TWC Hits 83 HD Channels in Parts of Top DMA

Inching closer to its longstanding goal of bringing at least 100 HD channels to the New York City market (DMA no. 1) and as many other sectors as possible by year's end, Time Warner Cable said its line-up has grown to 83 HD channels in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, too.

TWC plans to add at least 17 more channels by Dec. 31 to round out its first 100 HD selections. The cabler can't say for sure yet when the latest 24 HD channels will also be made available for its Manhattan subs.

WNBC in New York City this week became the first local broadcaster in America's largest TV market to go HD for its local newscasts, following only a relative handful of other local stations nationwide. WNBC, an O&O of NBC Universal, will produce up to 30 hours a week of news, entertainment, and sports programming t

Verizon FiOS said its century of channels will be offered in parts of New York’s five boroughs and sections of northern New Jersey, where the former phone company’s chief cable competition is Time Warner Cable and Cablevision.

In a so-called “landscape study” of Travel Channel HD’s future potential conducted last fall, Frank N. Magid Associates found that “Travel Channel was ranked the most anticipated new HD cable network among current HD subscribers.”

Outdoor Channel 2 HD --a new network airing all programming in HD--became fully operational late last week. The network is now available to cable and satellite operators, according to the Temecula, Calif.-based company. It plans to launch a much louder marketing campaign starting July 1. Outdoor Channel 2 HD began i